Unexpected Alliances
by Kenzie Perth
Summary: When the exorcists and the Noahs are forced to work undercover together in the Wizarding World, chaos is sure to ensue. Posing as the Black Order Academy for Unique Magical Traits, the former enemies must face Lord Voldemort, protect Harry Potter, and deal with Allen's terrible appetite. Not to mention the Tri-Wizard Tournament's coming up! (Not a great summary, sorry.)
1. Unexpected Alliances

**A/N: This is technically a -Man/Harry Potter (Year 4)/Doctor Who crossover, but Doctor Who isn't as important as the other two, merely a plot device, so... Yeah. I'm technically on vacation, but I've got a whole bunch of plot bunnies hopping around my head, so expect to see new stories.**

**Disclaimer: I'm to tired to type this, so I'll let the characters read it.**

**Neah: A new story! And I'm in it! **

**Allen: Neah. Disclaimer.**

**Neah: Oh yeah, right. Everybody together now. One, two three! *Conducting.***

**Everybody: Kenzie Perth does not own -Man, Doctor Who, or Harry Potter!**

**Neah: No, I do.**

**Allen: Be quiet.**

* * *

Allen was at breakfast when he got word of the newest mission. Normally, he would have been fine with the timing, but seeing as he had just returned from an all-night battle with some high-level Akuma, he was particularly hungry. He had, as a matter of fact, refused to leave the table until he was finished with his meal, despite the sharp blade of Mugen pressed to his throat.

Finishing rather quickly, perhaps more quickly than usual, Allen was still in a dark cloud when he Lavi, Kanda, and of course, Leenalee navigated their way through piles of paperwork to the partially buried desk of one (fast asleep) Komui Lee.

Lavi poked the Director. Twice. Komui continued to snore loudly. Lavi grinned in anticipation at what he was about to do, bending over to whisper in the man's ear. "Leenalee's eloping with Kanda."

The words' effect was instantanious. The white-clad, blue-black-haired man clung to his sister for dear life, sobbing and wailing loudly. Leenalee's face was bright red, but she managed a scathing look at Lavi that clearly promised pain at a later date. Lavi hid behind an annoyed (but slightly amused) Kanda, screaming "Protect me, Yuu-chan!" Chaos ensued.

* * *

-A Few Minutes Later-

Komui now sat at his desk, the complete picture of maturity and calmness. The four exorcists sat opposite him, wondering what he was making them wait for. Every time one of them opened their mouth to question or complain, Komui woule shush them and tell them that all would be revealed soon enough.

After the thenth time, about, that he had gotten this reply, Lavi, who remained particularly insistent, even after the others had given up, muttered darkly to the world in general. "It'd better not be anouther Komulin." Brightening, the red-haired bookman turned to the irate samurai next to him. "Don't you agree Yuu-cha- Eep!" He barely managed to avouid being decapitated by Kanda's sword.

Leenalee watched the ensuing argument with a hint of concertn, but mostly amusement. She turned to the Director, who had become slightly miffed about the Komulin comment, and who had taken to muttering things like, "What's wrong with my dear lovely Komulin?" and other things of that nature.

"Brother, what are we waiting… For?" Her voice trailed off as the argument next to her ceased, leaving Lavi still hanging by his hair from Kanda's grip and Mugen pointed (for the second time that morning) at Allen's throat.

A crash was heard outside, followed by the sound of very faimiliar squabbling and fighting. Accompanying it was a hummed melody that all of them wished to have never heard again. The bickering was cut off by an even more familiar voice. "Jasdevi. Stop frightening the pathetic humans and get over here. In case you haven't forgotten, we're here for a reason." The voice was getting closer, and at the last word, the door knob rattled as someone placed their hand on it. The exorcists tensed, Innocence activated and at the ready.

The doar creaked open. A pin could be heard drop. And in spilled the Noahs. Komui smiled widely from his seat behind the desk. "Please welcome your new teammates!"

There was a confused silence as the sentence was processed by the other occupants of the room.

"Wait, what?" Allen managed to choke out. Lavi almost dropped his hammer on his foot. Kanda's glare merely intensified, while Leenalee facepalmed.

On the other side of the room, the Noahs were having similar reactions with Komui's proclamation. Tykki glared at Komui, to shocked ot speak, while Sherryl swept Road into his arms despiter attempts to get free and tackle Allen. Wisely, similar to Leenalee, facepalmed.

Komui smiled pleasently. "You'll all be working together on this particular mission."

Tykki choked. "And – how… Exactly is this going to work?" He gestured at the exorcists. "If you don't remember, a couple weeks ago we were trying to kill each other! We came to speak to you, not to get stuck with them!"

Another few minutes of arguments ensued, but somehow, both groups (mostly due to Leenalee) found themselves all sitting across from Komui at his desk.

He grinned. The exorcists winced. A grinning Komui either meant a new Komulin or, (at this thought, Lavi gulped) something worse. Clapping his hands together, he cleared his throat. "I have a mission, as you've probably guessed. A couple hours ago, I had a request from an old friend who I owed a favor to. A school under one of his friend's protection has come under attack." He frowned, his glasses glinting.

"Akuma?" It was not one of the exorcists who had asked this, but rather Road, who was clutching Lero. The Noah of Dreams was swinging the pink pumpkin-tipped umbrealla around in circles, ignoring its protests.

Komui nodded gravely.

Before anyone could say anything, Tykki spoke. "We've been having problems with the Akuma as of late. They've been breaking free, losing control – we certainly haven't ordered any to attack any school, if that's why you've invited us down here."

Kanda shifted in his seat, raising an eyebrow. "Che."

Komui smiled. "I know you haven't." His grin got wider. "You see, this school that's under attack, it's in the future."

There was an unbelieving silence after that. Finally, Lavi asked the question that everyone in the room was silently asking. "What is this school called?"

Komui looked at him dead on. "It's called Hogwarts."


	2. In Which Stuff is Explained

**A/N: Sorry for the long update! Also, this chapter is horribly written. Finally, I promise more Neah throughout the story! *Hugs Neah* Anyway, here's the second chapter of Unexpected Alliance! Disclaimer, please!**

**Allen: -Man does not belong to the Almighty Kenzie Perth! *Pause* What?**

**Neah: No, it belongs to me! Mwa ha ha ha!**

**Allen: Sure it does. Actually, -Man belongs to Hoshino Katsura. Please ignore my uncle.**

**Neah: What? How cruel!**

**Kanda: Che. Shut up, idiots. The story's starting.**

**Neah: Oh yeah, it is! See you then!**

* * *

Komui looked over his glasses at the group in front of him. "You see, Hogwarts is no ordinary school."

Inside Allen's head, unheard by any but him, Neah began to grumble. _Of course it's not an ordinary school. It's in the future! Surely that qualifies it as out of the ordinary._

Allen had to grin a bit, but reprimanded his Uncle none the less. _**This is important, Neah, so pay attention. **_

Mentally raising an eyebrow, Neah protested, _Why do I have to pay attention? It's your mission._

Allen's grin got infestesimally bigger. _**Because I'm not.**_

Komui, unaware of the conversation inside of the white-haired exorcist's head, continued. "Hogwarts, in fact, is a school for Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Blank silence met his words. Then, Tyki snorted. "Magic?" Skepticism was written all over the Noah's gray-skinned face.

Komui nodded gravely. "Yes, magic. I knew you souldn't believe me, so I brought someone to prove all I've been saying."

From a blue police box in the corner that everyone, up until now, had been ignoring, stepped an old man, with long white hair and a beard of similar length. Friendly, curious, but wise bright blue eyes peered from behind a pair of half-moon glasses. He nodded politely at the lot in front of him, most of whom were wondering how he managed to fit in that box. "I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You must be the ones the Doctor told me about."

* * *

Flashback:

A worried Dumbledore stood in his office, facing a man with messy brown hair, a childish look in his eyes, and a dapper red bowtie. For some reason, it seemed like this man could not stand still, as he kept bouncing on his feet, playing with items in his pockets, and fingering odd items sitting on the table. "I need help, Doctor. These attacks are increasing, and with the Tri-Wizard tournament approaching,.."

Here Dumbledore stopped and sighed. "I had hoped you could help somehow."

The Timelord had a twinkle in his eye. "I can't help you, but I know someone who can." He bounced on his heels. "Besides, he owes me a favor."

There was a pause as Dumbledore smiled. He knew the Doctor would help. His meditations were paused as the Doctor grinned again, holding out what appeared to be a muggle candy. "Would you like a jelly baby?"

Dumbledore gratefully accepted.

End flashback. 

* * *

The Exorcists and Noahs alike all stood gaping, though Road privately felt that they shouldn't have been too surprised. Weird stuff happened to all of them – this was just a touch to far out of the norm. Dumbleeore had provided a display that was proof enough to them that magic existed as, with a wave of his wand and some unitelligably muttered words, he organized all the files and paperwork littering Komui's office.

Reever, who hald snuck in during the demonstration to deliver yet another paper for Komui to approve, was almost positive that a miracle had occurred.

The Doctor stood in the TARDIS entryway, unnoticed in the ensuing commotion. He had to admit, he admired the red-head's fashion sense. And that eye-patch – the Timelord decided that eyepatches were cool, despite previous bad experiences. Very cool. He briefly considered wearing one the next time he saw River, but decided against it when he remembered what had happened to his Stetson.

Something inside the TARDIS sparked. The Doctor turned around, panicking. That was most certainly not supposed to happen.

Komui knew his audience was thoroughly impressed. And convinced. He grimaced. Now he had to explain the situation. "While you are at Hogwarts, you'll be protecting the school from Akuma attacks." Here he paused, glancing at the Noahs. "I only want one adult coming, in order to pose as headmaster, as I," here he gestured to the mountains of paperwork, "Am, as you can clearly see, busy."

The (sometimes) gray-skinned, gloden-eyed family looked at each other, deliberating quietly. Shortly, Sheryl (reluctantly, it seemed) nodded, and Tyki turned to face Komui. "I'll go, along with Road and Jasdevi. Everyone else will stay behind."

Komui nodded. "As I hoped. Now, while you are there, Hogwarts will be hosting a tournament. The three main schools of magic in Europe will be competing in a series of tasks to prove wizarding prowess, bravery, and the like. We, with permission from all headmasters, will be posing as a new fourth school, the Rosa Cross School for Unusual Forms of Magic."

There was a pause (for about the hundreth time that morning – a lot of things that required pauses to digest had been said) as the occupants of the room swallowed the fact that they'd be competing with magic – and more importantly, magic users. Even Jasdevi were silent at that prospect.

Komui clapped his hands together. "Time to study! Komulin LXIV, bring out the books!"

The Exorcists tensed as a door behind Komui (that they were sure had not been there before) slid open, revealing a (much feared) Komulin. Carrying a mountain of books. Which it promptly dumped on all of their heads. (Well, not Tyki's. But everyone else's.)

Komui leaped on to the Komulin, waving and grinning like a maniac as the giant robot crashed through the wall, leaving dust, books, ten very shell-shocked occupants, and a Tardis. Dear reader, I challenge you to make a joke out of that.

Allen looked at the books piled up all around him. "Do we really have to read all of these?" He asked in a pleading voice.

Kanda glared at him, his arms pinned to his sides, buried up to his chin in books. "Che."


	3. Summer Vacation: Oh No!

**A/N: Yes, I know this is a bit shorter. I'm so sorry! *Bows down* Forgive me, forgive me! Right, disclaimer.**

**Neah: I seem to be getting more lines in the Author's Notes than in the actual story. *Continues complaining***

**Allen: While my Uncle's occupied, Kenzie Perth does not own -Man.**

**Tyki: No, I do.**

**Allen and Neah: When did you get in here?**

**Tyki: *Shrugs* It's a free country. Anyway, -Man belongs to Hoshino Katsura. See ya all!**

* * *

The seven Exorcists and Noahs (eight, if one decided to include Neah), stepped out of the TARDIS, awe written all over their still book-dazed faces. There had been some… Mixed reactions ot the TARDIS, but truthfully, it wasn't that different from the Ark, with the bigger on the inside and all. What truly shocked them was that it could move in time.

The TARDIS was parked in front of a very unusual house. Originally, it appeared that the house had been a small cottage, but it had been added on to repeatedly, until it appeared as it did now, a lopsided, rambling mess that made anyone who had the least interest in symmetry want to take a hammer and nails to it.

The Doctor smiled broadly. "Welcome to the Burrow!"

Tyki paused. "Road, I don't think we're in England anymore." He looked around nervously. "At least, our England."

Road ignored him, picking up a more important fact. "Why aren't we at Hogwarts? Isn't that where our mission is taking place?"

The Doctor looked sheepish. "Well, actually, you aren't going to be going to Hogwarts right away. It doesn't start until the end of summer, any how. You'll be staying with the Weasley family, who have kindly offered to take you in and acclimate you to wizarding culture." He frowned. "Didn't Komui tell you any of this?"

Allen looked furious. "No, he did not. And I'm going to make one thing clear right now. I am not spending whatever amount of time I've got until school in the same house as the psycho twins," He pointed at Jasdevi, "Mr. Predatory Butterfly," He poked Tyki, "And her!" He glared at Road, who smiled cheerfully back. "It's bad enough with She-Man and Rabbit here." He jerked his thumb at the dangerously annoyed samurai and the grinning eye-patched red-head.

"Believe me, I'm not exactly happy with this arrangement, either." Tyki grumbled. "School with them is bad enough, but spending summer, as well? You may as well just hand Jasdevi a permit to blow everything up."

David grinned cockily. "I wouldn't mind that."

Jasdero's head fell to the side as he stared at the group with his fish-eyed gaze. "Neither would I, hii!"

"Be quiet, creep." Kanda looked like he was ready to decapitate anyone who came within ten feet of him. "Che."

David glared at him. He opened his mouth to say something, but Tyki shushed him. "Language, David."

The twin turned his glare to the top-hatted man. "I didn't freakin' say anything!"

Tyki chuckled. "No, but you thought it. I could tell."

No one noticed the Doctor sneakily close himself back into the TARDIS and disappear until the argument that had followed had died down. After some more arguing, it seemed that the only thing to do was to go knock on the slightly haphazard door to the house named The Burrow.

Lavi took the initiative, jumping up to the door much like his nickname, ignoring the indignant squeak of the garden gnome he stepped on. Knocking the door thrice, he stood there and waited as the crashing, banging, and yelling that came from just beyond the entryway died down enough for all to hear the sound of a voice shouting that they'd be there in a jiffy, just wait one second, and watch where you're putting those joke mouse-traps, George! There was a huff, and a rattling creak as the door swung open to reveal a motherly woman with bright red hair, presumably the source of the yelling. Just beyond her two identical red-heads stood, peering curiously at the newcomers, one of these imaginably being George.

Tyki bowed, low, tipping his top hat, eternally greatful that none of the Noahs were in their gray form. Jasdero's stiches would be more than enough to explain already. "I hope we're not intruding." He placed the hat on his head, looking up to be met with the woman's encouraging smile. Proceeding to introduce the rest of the party, Tyki subtly poked David, a quiet reminder about his no swearing policy around strangers. He was still hoping to make a good impression, as unlikely as that would be.

The woman introduced herself as Molly Weasley, and won't you please come in? Allen noticed her give Jasdevi a critical look as they all filed past her into the lower level, now populated with a pair of twins, a boy who seemed younger, and a shy-seeming girl, all with red hair. Allen supposed that this was the rest of the Weasley family. Grinning, he poked Lavi. The Baka Usagi would fit in quite well here.

Almost immediately, Allen was bombarded with questions. Inside his head, Neah chuckled quietly, watching his nephew struggle to deflect or answer them all. It seemed that most of the questions were coming from the twins, who wanted to know everything about him, from his outfit, to his hair, to his scar. Yes, this would be a very interesting year indeed.


	4. Explosions and the Boy Who Lived

**A/N: I'm sorry, I thought I posted this! Apparently I didn't. Disclaimer time!**

**Kenzie: *Hands Neah a script* Read it.**

**Neah: *Pales* That's at least seven pages! **

**Kenze: HYPERBOLE ALERT!**

**Neah: Fine. Here it goes. *Clears throat* Thank you very much to all readers, followers and favoriters. Special thanks to reviewers ('cause I live for reviews). To answer your question, givemehugs54, I was kinda planning on pairing them a little bit (Leenalee and Kanda: WHAT?), but I didn't mean to have that foreshadowing. Anyway, whatever's in there won't be super prominent, as romance isn't the main focus of this story, but thanks for pointing that out. *Gasping for breath***

**Allen: You could have breathed some time in there, you know.**

**Neah: *Shushes Allen* And now, Kenzie Perth doesn't own -Man, because I-**

**Allen: Neah... We've talked about this.**

**Neah: Fine, Hoshino Katsura does.**

* * *

So far, the first day of summer had been fairly uneventful. Lavi and Jasdevi were pulled upstairs by the twins as soon as the two red-heads had stopped bombarding one unfortunate Allen Walker with questions. Kanda retreated to the front yard, where he could be seen chasing around the gnomes, Mugen unsheathed and ready for action. Apparently one particularly stupid one had bitten him on his ankle. Shortly after, Allen declared he was hungry. Lavi, who had come down for a glass of water, ran upstairs with a barely muttered excuse of needing to unpack, despite the fact that he barely brought anything at all, and what he did bring was already unpacked. Road and Tyki, both still exploring their new surroundings, winced and made a hasty exit. Molly, seemingly unaware of the danger, smiled, and asked the white-haired boy what he wanted. The following list was enough to feed a small village, but what truly stunned onlookers is that Molly shortly produced the aforementioned food, and in fact, seemed happy that there was for once someone who could eat as much as she made.

"Tyki! I'm bored! Play with me!" Road lay on the floor, kicking her feet as she pulled at a tattered voodoo doll.

Tyki, who had retreated into one of the many chairs to read a book, looked up from his page. "Then go upstairs and play with Jasdevi." He sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead, the familiar signs of a headache beginning to appear. He had a feeling that he'd be experiencing that a lot more this summer.

Giggling, Road skipped up the stairs and out of view, banging the poor pumpkin-tipped pink umbrella that she had somehow managed to smuggle with her on every surface she passed. (Including Ron's poor, aching head.) Shortly afterwards, the explosions emanating from the twins' room increased in number and volume, though no one was sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Kanda finally caught the gnome, and after giving it a good beating, threw it as far as he could over a wall at the edge of the garden. Sheathing Mugen, he sat back down on a boulder near the edge, giving death glares at any other gnomes foolish enough to venture near him.

Tyki turned another page in his book.

A particularly loud explosion issued from the room above him, accompanied with several screams, some panicked, some elated. Obviously, either the twins had made a major breakthrough in whatever it was that they were doing or Road had brought out her candles. Either one was equally likely.

Tyki flipped another paged, not concerned in the slightest.

Allen continued to eat, his voraciousness taking him through ninety-seven and a half plates of food of different varieties, all magically produced. He kept Mrs. Weasley so busy cooking she didn't even have time to wonder what was happening upstairs.

Tyki came to the end of the chapter and started on the next one.

Suddenly, he noticed something. It had gone completely silent: Allen wasn't talking, Kanda had given up on his gnome-slaughtering, and the explosions upstairs (as well as Ron's muttering) had stopped. Mrs. Weasley turned anxiously to a huge grandfather clock reminiscent of Miranda's that Road had told him about. It had multiple hands, all pointing in different directions. One, labeled Mr. Weasley, pointed to traveling. The twins (followed by those in their room) crept down the stairs. Kanda stared at the front door. There, standing on it, was yet another red-head, this one obviously the father. Standing next to him, however, was a boy with black hair, green eyes, and broken glasses. When a breeze blew his bangs to the side a little bit, a lightning shaped scar was revealed on his forehead. Harry Potter had arrived.

* * *

Here's an extra bit that I was going to write into the story but decided not to. It's the character's reactions to the inside of the TARDIS.

Road was laughing crazily, skipping throughout the strange room and banging a pink umbrella on the railings and... Thing in the middle of the room. The Doctor - Tyki was pretty sure that was what his name was - smiled broadly at her enthusiasm. "Well, what do you think?" He grinned like a child, waving at the room that they had just entered. It was dark, yes, but beautiful in a mechanical way. Tyki hated to admit it, but he liked it better than inside the Ark. It was just less creepy.

Jasdero stood in awe, staring at the strange center in the middle of the room. It didn't seem like a room, really, it seemed to special for that plain of a word to describe it. His brother was also in shock, he could tell, he was just hiding it better.

David snorted. "It's freaking bigger on the inside!"

"Bigger on the inside, hii!" Jasdero's head flopped to one side as he looked up at the top of the space. It seemed like it was living and mechanical at the same time. He like it very much, very much indeed! He wanted to stay here forever, hii! But only if his brother did.

Allen stared at the area surrounding him. He should have been used to unusual things, he knew, after all, weird stuff happened to him all the time. After all, the Ark was fairly similar. But this - it felt alive, like it had a mind of its own.

Inside his head, Neah agreed with him, his surprise equalling, almost surpassing, his nephew's. _I've never seen anything like this before, not in all my years as the 14th. _

Allen knew his Uncle was not just talking about his time as Neah, but the Noah's consciousness as well. This was truly unusual.

Lavi was staring unashamedly, trying to record everything. His Bookman instincts were overloaded. "It's amazing, Yuu-Chan, isn't it?" He danced around Kanda.

"Che."


	5. School's In! This Should Be Interesting

**New A/N: I'm re-uploading this because I reread it... And kinda died. It made sense to my brain at 11:00 P.M. That doesn't mean it makes sense now.**

* * *

**A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating! I've just been really busy... Yes, I know, excuses, excuses.  
Anyway, being shameless here, but everyone, go check out my other story! It's a Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler)/X-Men crossover and it's not getting nearly enough love! Thank you! *Hands out cookies.***

**Neah: When am I actually going to come back into the story?**

**Kenzie: Soon, soon, don't worry, my little friend.**

**Ed: DID SOMEONE SAY LITTLE? WHO ARE YOU CALLING MICRO-**

**Tyki: *With his hand over Ed's mouth* What's he doing here? He's not even in this story.**

**Everybody: *Shrug***

**Kenzie: Anyhow, I do not own -Man or Harry Potter, as both belong to their respective creators.**

**Ed: -SPIC AND SO SMALL THAT THEY CAN'T EVEN... **

**Everyone: *Ignore***

* * *

It was nearly the end of the summer, and the Burrow had yet to be destroyed. At this point, the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione had come to view that as nothing short of a miracle. But so far, there had been no major incidents, life-threatening or otherwise, so the summer could really be considered a success.

Actually, scratch that. There had been the time where Molly Weasley had attempted to scrub the makeup off Jasdevi, insisting that it was punk-like and "not at all suitable for young men to wear." That had ended rather badly.

There was also that time where Allen had slept for three days straight. (Many wondered how that was even possible.) When he had woken up... He was very hungry to say the least, and not lucid enough to realize that the various red-heads around him were not, in fact, duplicates of General Cross. Tyki had winced when he thought of the cost the destruction the Exorcist had caused.

Oh, yes, and that time when Road nearly impaled the twins with her candles when one of them gave her an acid pop with the promise of it being perfectly normal. They had all gotten the distinct feeling that both of them would need therapy afterwards – Road could be quite scary when promised candy and then not given any.

And then there was that time... Never mind. It had, apparently, not been an incident-free summer. But the important point was that the Burrow was still standing, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, everyone was to be shooed out of the house for school shopping.

Well, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasleys were going for school shopping. The Exorcists and the Noahs were simply along for the ride. Though Allen really wanted to try to get a wand.

The atmosphere in the Ministry-loaned car was terse and silent. The two sides had gotten used to each other, even friendly; being stuck together in a house really meant to hold half the number that they were for a couple of months can do that. However, now that the promise of escape was beginning to come closer, the tension that had existed early on came back to haunt.

It had been decided: the visitors would be stationed around Hogwarts in order to fight off any attacks. When it came time for the tournament, Tyki, posing as headmaster, would enter the school along with the rest of them through the Ark gate, seeing as it was suitably impressive and could be written off as magic. Then, all of them would enter their names in the tournament to be chosen, however all that worked, and whoever was picked would compete. The rest of the people would merely be there as guards, and for appearances. All of them were mostly confident that they could handle whatever the wizards would throw at them. Mostly being the key word here.

Actually, the only ones who were very confident at all were Tyki and Road. Tyki was confident because he could pass through anything, which included spells, and Road was confident because she was an insane psychopath. Both of which are fairly good reasons.

Allen was terrified, in fact, of the idea of being chosen. Unfortunately, he knew that he had a fairly large chance of being the... tribute, or whatever they were calling them. Not only was the Goblet which their research had informed them magical, it also picked the best of the best out of the group: this basically guaranteed that all the insane ones wouldn't be chosen. So, in other words, none of the Noahs. Summer seemed to be ending at an alarming rate.

Unfortunately for Allen, the day arrived quite quickly in which the group was to present themselves as the Rosa Cross School for Unusual Magic Traits. Or something like that.

* * *

The Hogwarts students stood out on the lawn: the other schools had arrived, the Durmstrang students making their appearance in a ghost ship rising dramatically out of the lake (Harry wasn't sure how the squid felt about that one.) Beauxbatons had come shortly beforehand, dropping in in an absolutely huge powder blue carriage drawn by several very very large Pegasi. Hagrid would absolutely love them. But the fourth school, Rosa Cross something, had yet to arrive. Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys had yet to connect the guests staying with them as the fourth school, assuming they were some Ministry project.

Harry shivered: the damp autumn air was beginning to penetrate his thick wool cloak, chilling him to bone. Around him, students fidgeted and whispered: it had been a good five minutes – where was the fourth school? Some even went as far as to suggest that they weren't coming: that they shouldn't have been invited in the first place. There was a reason the competition was named the Tri-Wizard tournament, after all.

The teachers were just about to let the children back in and check with the fourth school to make sure that they were still coming when a glow lit up the far field, just out of the Whomping Willow's branch reach. A series of what looked like diamonds began to appear, glowing white. The biggest was just a little bit taller than Professor McGonagall.

From that diamond emerged a man, wearing a black suit and a top hat. He smiled charmingly, and many of the girls in the crowd tittered and blushed. Hermione gasped in recognition, then smirked and rolled her eyes. Tyki had made his appearance.

Behind him followed a boy, who looked to be about fifteen, with white hair. Allen looked around at his surroundings almost giddily, smiling in recognition at Harry, who waved surreptitiously back.

Following him was another boy, this one with bright red hair and an eyepatch. Lavi began to look around, then spotted one of the blond Beauxbatons girls. The anime-style hearts could almost be seen appearing in his eyes.

Then, with his arms folded, came yet another boy, this one with long blue hair tied up in a ponytail. Kanda, as usual, looked utterly like he didn't want to be there and would rather be doing anything else, in fact.

At his appearance, Dean leaned over to Harry. "Harry. D'ya reckon that that person's a boy or a girl?" He looked utterly befuddled. Harry had to clap a hand over his mouth to keep from shouting out in laughter. Whipping his head around, Kanda seemed to glare at the two of them like he had heard them. But that was impossible, surely, as the Gryffindor had whispered, and the blue-haired exorcist was still a good fifty feet away, at least. Nevertheless, Harry straightened back up, suddenly serious. He had been on the receiving end of that sword a few times, and he did not want to repeat that experience.

Next came a girl, who seemed much to small to the general consensus to be attending a wizarding school, much less participating in the tournament. Unlike the first three, she didn't seem to be wearing a uniform, instead wearing a blouse-skirt ensemble that seemed very much little-girlish. Harry shuddered, remembering her candles. He pitied the poor fools who made the mistake of underestimating her.

Finally, following the girl were two boys... At least, one of them was a boy. Most of Hogwarts was pretty sure one of the two was, but the long golden hair made it difficult to tell one way or the other. Jasdero looked around with his usual fish-eyed gaze. The other boy had short black hair, and was wearing a nasty smirk. For some reason, the girls all seemed to titter a little bit more when he made his appearance. Well, no accounting for taste. In Padma's opinion, they both looked slightly insane and/or stoned. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all knew that they actually presumably weren't, that that was just their normal appearance, but nonetheless agreed with her mentally.

The group assembled, staring at the Hogwarts students who gazed at them with equal interest.

They had arrived. Time to have fun.


	6. Improvisation!

**A/N: Next chappie! I promise there will be more Neah. Thanks again to all reviewers, favoriters, and followers. And again, everyone, go check out my other story! Disclaimer!**

**Neah: I own -Man! I own -Man! **

**Allen: ...**

**Neah: Nephew? You O.K.?**

**Harry: He's just discovered the number of fem!Allen fics there are.**

**Neah: ... Oh.**

**Harry: By the way, neither Neah Walker nor Kenzie Perth own Harry Potter or -Man. They both belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

They were going to be late. They were going to be late to their first day of their new mission and it was all Tyki and his damn books' fault.

He had been sitting, reading, so completely absorbed in his novel that he had ignored everyone's constant poking and prodding and yelling to get up, they had to leave, and they were supposed to have appeared five minutes ago. Finally, Road had snapped, impaling a candle two inches from Tyki's nose through the spine of the book.

He had looked up then, in a curious, detached sort of way.

Leenalee had promptly slapped him.

They got moving, after that.

Allen summoned the Ark, humming the 14th's melody under his breath. The older Weasleys, being the only ones left at the Burrow, were, needless to say, very surprised to see the Ark gate appearing in their dining room. Giant, glowing gates to alternate pocket dimensions tend to do that.

It was a short walk through the white-cobbled streets of the Ark, and soon, Allen pushed open the door to Hogwarts.

They were met almost immediately with whispers, some about their appearance (Kanda heard one that made it clear that people were not entirely sure about his gender – he would have to hunt down those people later and threaten them with Mugen), others about their late appearance, all thanks to Tyki, and some about their method of arrival.

The gate faded shortly after appearing, leaving the Exorcists and the Noahs, newly christened Rosa Cross School for Unusual Magical Traits, standing on the dark lawn.

Road smiled. So many innocent children to trap in her nightmare dimension. Tyki seemed to know what she was thinking, and elbowed her. "Don't even think about it." He hissed.

Road gave him her best puppy-dog eyes. "Please? I love hearing their screams."

Tyki shook his head adamantly. "Please keep your sadistic tendencies to yourself while we're here. I know that I'm trying my best, and we don't want to blow our cover before we can figure out what's going on with the Akuma." He pushed up the brim of his top-hat.

Road pouted. "Fine, but you've got to give me extra candy when we get back."

"Deal." Tyki straightened up. "Nice to see you again, Albus Dumbledore."

"Same to you, Tyki Mikk." The wizard in question bowed his head, his eyes twinkling. "May I present to you the Rosa Cross School for Unusual Magical Traits!"

There was some half-hearted applause, and the students and teachers alike began filing back into the entrance of the school. It was really getting cold outside, and everybody just wanted to get back into the fire-heated castle. And while they were at it, possibly have some nice, warming dinner. They'd been standing out on the lawn for some time.

After an awkward pause, the eight undercover students and headmaster followed them. All the Hogwarts students had left for the Great Hall, waiting impatiently for food. The other schools were herded off to the side, where they waited in a side room to enter the hall. Apparently, they were supposed to have some sort of presentation. Oops. Improvisation time, apparently.

Durmstrang and Beauxbatons left, leaving eight very nervous people standing in a huddle, whispering frantically. Lavi nodded emphatically, then smiled. "We're going to knock their socks off!" He gave a thumbs up, then straightened up as a random teacher appeared to bring them into the hall.

* * *

Inside the hall, a creaking could be heard, and then the doors flew open with a resounding blast to reveal a black and purple cloud of what looked to be like overly-large butterflies. Something about them gave everyone in the room a sense of foreboding, despite their outwardly harmless appearance. The butterflies swirled upwards in streams to reveal a man in a black top hat, his hands outstretched.

As he walked forward, the butterflies looping in complicated patterns above, he was followed by a pair of teenagers, one with long golden hair, the other with short black hair. They were singing a sort of song, disturbing and dark, in perfect harmony with each other. In their outer hands the two boys held golden pistols, which they were flipping and looping around their fingers like a baton in a parade.

_There was once a cradle._

_There was another cradle within the cradle._

_One became two._

_One cradle disappeared within the mist._

_A star is shining in the graveyard._

_Disappears._

Behind them, a red-headed boy and a teenage girl with long dark-green pigtails stood poised. The boy had a giant hammer, which was glowing with green fire. The girl stood on top of the hammer, and as the students watched breathlessly, the hammer was flipped high into the air and the girl was tossed up. She spun effortlessly into the air, landing one-footed in an acrobatic pose, still balanced on the hammer.

Following them was the other girl. She smiled in a way that seemed absolutely adorable, but soon turned psychopathic. As she leered at the other students, a dark aura seemed to descend on anyone within a hundred foot radius, and sharp, pointy candles materialized. At this sight, anyone who had been at the Weasley's over the summer winced. The candles formed a pattern behind her, and began to spin, shooting forward to land deep in the wall behind the teacher's table. When everyone straightened up from ducking, they noticed the pattern formed the symbol present on the uniforms the Rosa Cross students were wearing.

Second to last was a boy with long blue hair pulled up into a ponytail. He had look on his face that clearly informed anyone and everyone that he'd rather have been anywhere except for here. Unsheathing a sword, the teenager began to move the blade in a series of complicated patterns. The candles pulled out from the wall, shooting straight at him. He deflected every single one of them with his sword, sending them flying back into the pattern they started out as.

Finally, a hooded boy entered the room. By now, everyone was thoroughly traumatized, though some retained the hope that therapy would help them with their mental scarring.

The boy pulled back his hood, and the occupants of the room gasped in spite of themselves. Blinding white hair and a youthful face met them. Then the boy opened his mouth to sing, and what came out was entirely unexpected.

_Soshite bouyaha nemurini tsuite _

_Ikizuku haino nakano hono o hitotsu, futatsuto _

_Ukabu fukurami itoshi yokogao _

_Daichini taruru ikusenno yume, yume _

_Ginno hitomini yuragu yoruni umareochita kagayaku omae _

_Ikui kuno tositsukia _

_Ikutu inoriwo tsuchihe kaeshitemo _

_Watashiha inorituzukeru _

_Mou kakonnokotoni ai _

_Soshite bouyaha nemurini tsuite _

_Ikizuku haino nakano hono o hitotsu, futatsuto _

_Ukabu fukurami itoshi yakogao _

_Daichini taruru ilusenno yume, yume _

_Ginno hitomini yuragu yoruni _

_Umareochita kagayaku omae ikuo kuno tositsukiga _

_Ikutu inoriwo tsuchihe kaeshitemo _

_Watashiha inorituzukeru mou kakonnokotoni aiwo _

_Tsunaidateni kisuwo_

As he finished, the butterflies disappeared, the girl's dark grin was replaced with a cheerful one, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became light and festive again.

* * *

Dumbledore was surprised. He pushed up his half-moon glasses, watching as the newest arrivals made their way over to the Gryffindor table. One thing was for sure. This would be a very interesting year indeed.


	7. The Goblet of Fire Has Appeared!

**A/N: EEEKK! I'm sorry I didn't update! I'm so sorry! I was at Girl Scout camp, and they kinda have a no electronics thing. It was sad. Anyway... Here it is: the next chapter of Unexpected Alliances! I know you've all been waiting for this! (At least, I think you have. I hope you have.) Aaaaanywayy... Sorry. Disclaimer, please!**

**Neah: Finally! I talk! For like, four seconds!**

**Kenzie: *Shoves disclaimer in his face* **

**Neah: *With a mouthful of paper* Fine, fine. Harry Potter and -Man do not belong to Kenzie Perth -**

**Kenzie *Interrupting* I think that should be obvious.**

**Neah: Shut up. Anyway, they both belong to their respective creative genius owners.**

**Kenzie: I didn't write that in the script...**

* * *

Allen had to admit, so far, everything was running smoothly. No one had died yet, there had been no Akuma attacks, and while Road did use her candles, she didn't impale anyone. All in all, Allen considered it a win-win situation. Except for the unplanned-for social awkwardness that ensued after their demonstration.

The Exorcists and Noahs stood awkwardly in front of Dumbledore. Lavi broke the silence first. "Erm... What do we do now?" The carrot-top scratched his head nervously.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Choose a table to sit down at. Mr. Mikk will join me and the other headmasters at the head table." He pushed up his half-moon glasses, his eyes twinkling merrily.

Allen wondered if the white-bearded old man had practiced that eye-twinkle. It did seem to appear at awfully convenient times.

The group, minus one, made their way over to the nearest table, which happened to be the one the Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry were sitting at. All of them stared at the other group suspiciously.

Allen plonked himself down next to Harry, who turned white and scooched surreptitiously away.

Inside Allen's head, Neah snorted. _Methinks we overdid it._

Allen couldn't help but agree. Everyone did seem to be a bit shell-shocked, and the Gryffindors looked less than thrilled at their table choice. He couldn't really blame them. The Noahs really did a good job of leaving an impression. The issue was that it wasn't always a good one.

Dumbledore stood up for a speech. "As always, I welcome our new students to Hogwarts. In addition, I have the honor of welcoming the three other schools here to participate in the Tri-Wizard tournament." He nodded gravely, his eyes twinkling.

_Again! _Neah complained. _I'm going to ask him his secret – how does he time that?_

Dumbledore proceeded to begin a long-ish speech that neither Neah nor Allen paid attention to. Allen was instead staring at his plate, wondering when food would arrive. Neah spent the time complaining about the eye-twiAllen found it rather amusing, not that he'd ever admit it out loud.

Unsurprisingly, Kanda was annoyed. And bored. But mostly annoyed. The Baka Usagi, rather predictably, had chosen to sit next to him. Lavi proceeded to poke at him, whining constantly. It had not done much to improve the samurai's mood. As a matter of fact, he was very close to snapping.

Lavi was also bored. Sure, Hogwarts had been exciting at first, but now the old wrinkled man who reminded the red-head quite a bit of Bookman was making a speech. Lavi Bookman happened to hate speeches. So the quite possibly suicidal Junior Bookman decided to annoy Kanda.

Dumbledore was perhaps halfway done through his speech, which he was personally quite proud of, when there was a commotion at the Gryffindor table. With out even having to look, he knew it was the fault of the fourth school. When he did look up, what he saw made him unsure if he wanted to laugh or to cry. Possibly a bit of both. The blue haired samurai, Kanda, was it, had his sword imbedded in the wood of the table, while the red-head, Lavi, if he recalled correctly, clearly the target of the blade, was leaned back as so to duck it. He somehow had managed to get his head in the lap of one very shocked Hermione Granger. The rest of the fourth school just continued listening as if that sort of thing happened every day.

Tyki cleared his throat. "Lavi, sit up. Kanda, put away Mugen." The other headmaster seemed perfectly unruffled, not concerned in the slightest.

McGonagall sputtered. "Please behave in the Great Hall!" The Scottish witch took a breath to continue, but Dumbledore waved her off.

"As I was saying, could I have the casket brought out?" He cued another eye-twinkle.

Inside Allen's head, Neah hissed. _There it is again! I must find out his secret!_

Allen mentally sighed. _**Uncle... **_Allen was cut short by a large casket being carried into the hall.

The casket was placed in front of Dumbledore, who opened it, revealing a large, intricate goblet.

"May I present to you! The Goblet of Fire!" Dumbledore tapped it with his wand, and the inside of it burst into blue flames.

The old man went on to explain how entrants placed their names in the goblet, and how the age line wouldn't let anyone under seventeen enter. This was met with groans, most coming from the Gryffindor table. The Ravenclaws were to smart to want to compete. It sounded simple enough.

It, in fact, did not turn out that simply. Kanda, rather unwillingly, had to enter everyone under seventeen. Road had ended up with a beard, which Jasdevi seemed to find hilarious (at least until she chased them around the school with her candles for laughing). Allen had refused to let Kanda put in his name, muttering something about not wanting to be in the Bakanda's debt. When asked, he said he'd think of something, and then went up to his room in the Ark.

After that, everyone trickled back up into their rooms, as well. It was looking to be a long night.

And a very interesting morning.

* * *

**A/N: O.K. I need some reader input here. Should I do the fairly obvious plot, and have the Goblet choose Allen, or should I try to be more original and have Jasdevi be chosen? Or maybe, I have this idea I've been toying around with. So... I'll have Neah get chosen! Which one of the three should I do?**

**Neah: I vote the third one.  
**

**Kenzie: I had a feeling you would. Anyway, I have an idea for either way you choose. Let me know what you think in the comments! Kenzie Perth, out!**


	8. Uncle Trouble (Really, Neah?)

**A/N: I was originally going to wait a bit longer to see what people said, but then I realized that I had basically been writing the story in my head, so I just gave up and published it.** **Now, disclaimer, please.**

**Lavi: -Man and Harry Potter don't belong to Kenzie Perth!**

**Kanda: *Unwillingly* They belong to Hoshino Katsura and J. K. Rowling respectively. Che. Good enough for you, baka brain?**

**Kenzie: Oh, that's harsh, Bakanda, especially coming from you.**

**Allen: Hey, that's my line!**

**Kenzie: Life's rough, Baka Moyashi.**

**Allen: IT'S ALLEN! A-L-L-E-N! **

**Kenzie: I know, I just like annoying you.**

**Neah: You and me both. *Highfives Kenzie***

**Kenzie: Oh wait! I almost forgot! I've got to answer reviewer's questions! My computer won't let me look at the reviews, so I don't know your name, but to the person who asked whether Doctor Who was going to be very major in the story, my answer is this: Doctor Who won't be as important as the other two elements, and will mainly be a plot device, yes, but I'm hoping to have the Doctor pop in every now and then, and maybe bring a companion with him.**

**I'm sorry if I forgot any other questions! I'll answer them in the next chapter, I promise.**

* * *

Everyone, be it Beaux Batons or Hogwarts, or anywhere in between, was incredibly excited. Today was the day when the Goblet of Fire would choose the champion for each of the schools.

Actually, the Rosa Cross school wasn't particularly excited. They were too tired from fighting Akuma all through the night. None of them had gotten any sleep for at least two days. So, while the rest of the students from all the schools buzzed with energy throughout the day, the nine students (and one headmaster) moved like they were walking through molasses, and were, in fact, rather apprehensive about the upcoming event.

When Allen sat (see collapsed) on the bench next to Harry, who had apparently gotten over his earlier fear, he was filled with a sense of dread. It was dinner, and the champions were about to be announced – somehow, though no one was sure quite when or how, except for maybe the teachers – and for Allen, it seemed like there was a dark cloud beginning to surround him. The apprehension was almost as bad as Master Cross' debts. Those debts... The horror...

Next to Allen, Harry began to get nervous. Around the white-haired boy, a dark aura was beginning to appear, and the Boy-Who-Lived was pretty sure he saw the other grow horns. The black-haired, green-eyed boy slowly edged away from the other, all the while fearing just a little bit for his life. Lavi couldn't help but to crack up.

Dumbledore began a short announcement that snapped Allen out of it, and food appeared on all the tables. By now, the other schools were used to Allen's eating habits, but before that, several people were sent to the hospital wing due to nausea. While the Exorcist piled food onto his (twenty or so) plates, Lavi was bugging Kanda. Again.

This time, Kanda didn't even bother to draw his sword, instead grabbing the Bookman's wrist and throwing him Judo-style into the mashed potatoes on his plate. Their antics brought a few titters to the Beaux Batons girls, while the Durmstrang students merely looked on condescendingly.

Dinner continued much in the same fashion, with spots of chaos here and there, but everyone coming through in one piece. The entire mood of the hall, however, spoke of nervous tension and excitement. This aura only heightened when the flaming goblet was brought into the hall. Allen could be seen quite visibly turning alternately green and pale. (Well, paler.)

Lavi began to fidget. Kanda punched him to keep him still. Leenalee smacked them both over the head with a magically materializing clipboard. Other than that, the hall was silent.

Dumbledore watched as the flames turned red and a little piece of paper flew up into the air, only to be neatly caught. "For Durmstrang, we have Viktor Krum!" Well, no surprise there, really. The duck-footed Quidditch player made his sullen way over to the side-door where a teacher was waiting to escort him inside.

The flames turned red again. "For Beaux Batons, we have Fleur Delacour!" At this, several of the non-chosen French girls burst into tears. A snooty blonde made her way to the side door that Krum had passed through.

Again, the flames turned a brilliant red, spitting a scrap of paper high into the hall. "For Hogwarts, we have Cedric Diggory!" The reactions to this were mixed,

Allen noted. For some reason, the Gryffindor table seemed particularly unhappy, while the Hufflepuffs were cheering their heads off.

For a fourth time, the flames turned red. Allen flinched, knowing what was coming. "Harry Potter!" Dumbledore cried.

Harry sat stock-still for a second. "What?" he finally managed to choke out.

Dumbledore gestured for him to come up, pushing him through the door rather hastily, as if to get him out of the way. At the same time, the rest of the school recovered from their shock, and an outbreak of whispers spread throughout the entire student populous.

For (hopefully) the last time, the flames turned red, and a slip of paper spiraled high into the air. Kanda frowned. The paper was different from all the ones he had added. Maybe it was Allen's?

Dumbledore pushed his glasses up, peering at the slip of paper. "Ehm." He coughed once, to clear his throat. "May I please have Neah Walker?"

Inside Allen's head, a voice could be heard. More specifically, a voice swearing. Another voice joined in – this one was Allen's. _**Neah... What the heck have you done?**_

The Noah attempted to feign innocence. _Nothing... Well, nothing terrible._

_**Neah! **_Allen was furious. He began to berate his uncle mentally, never noticing the stares directed at the Gryffindor table until Lavi poked him.

"You kinda need to go up there, man." The red-head stared at his friend concernedly. There was a silent message in his expression. We need to talk later.

_Well... Does that mean I can borrow control temporarily? _Neah sounded abnormally hopeful. Unfortunately, Allen couldn't think of any way around it. Neah was the champion, and unluckily, he was also inside of Allen's head. The Exorcist sighed, then stood up.

"Allen, what are you doing! Who's Neah?" Hermione hissed.

The white-haired boy waved her off, and when he looked at her, she saw his eyes glinted gold. 'Strange.' She thought. 'I thought they were silver.'

Neah made his way slowly up to where the headmaster was standing, obviously confused. He smiled. It had been a long time since he'd been allowed to have this much fun.

"Allen?" Dumbledore said, worry tinging his voice.

Neah's grin got the tiniest bit wider. In a smooth voice, very much different from the young white-haired boy's, he spoke. "Neah Walker, at your service."

* * *

**A/N: So yeah, Neah's the champion. Sorry to all those who wanted Allen (no one likes Jasdevi, apparently), but I wanted to do a more unique plot and this seemed fairly popular. Besides, more Neah is always good. Also, I want you to guess how the second task is going to turn out. (That's the one with the mermaids in the lake, if you don't remember.) Who does Allen care about the most? If it were Komui, it'd be Leenalee, but since Sister-Complex isn't here...**

**Neah: You're rambling.**

**Kenzie: I wasn't talking to you.**

**Neah: So?**

**Kenzie: *Shushes him* Anyway, read and review, people! Thanks!**


	9. Neah Gets Yelled At (A Lot)

**A/N: So yeah... *Scratches head* Disclaimer time!**

**Kenzie: Here we are!**

**Greed: Hello, my beautiful ****possessions! I own you all! I also own -Man and Harry Potter! It's all mine!**

**Kenzie: Why did I ask you to do the disclaimer again?**

**Ling: Ignore Greed. They belong to Hoshino Katsura and J. K. Rowling respectively.**

**Kenzie: Also, feel free to ask questions. Thanks to the reviewer who pointed out the Neah/Allen thing in the last author's note! I'm thinking that maybe Kanda will be the kidnapee in the second task - Neah/Allen will see him and kinda go "I swam this entire way to get Kanda? What a waste of time." and then grab him anyway, because secretly, they don't want him to drown. Anyway... Read on!**

* * *

Lenalee was the first one to confront Neah after dinner. The golden-eyed Noah of Destruction was feeling fine, what with being chosen for the tournament champion and getting the opportunity to borrow control for a while. That is, until a certain pig-tailed Exorcist cornered him in the corridor leading to the Gryffindor common room, holding him hostage with one of Dark Boots resting on his head. Neah had never truly realized just how heavy the Crystal Type user's Innocence was.

Allen snorted. _**Congratulations, Neah. We're dead, and it's all your fault. **_He crossed his arms, looking indignant, which would have been a lot more effective if Neah could actually see him.

_To be fair,_ Neah thought, _I never actually meant to become the champion. I just put my name in as a joke._

Unbeknownst to him, he had accidentally spoken aloud. Lenalee's eyes widened. Then she slammed her foot down on their head.

"You stupid idiot! Let Allen out right now! I don't care if you endanger your life, just don't endanger Allen's! You're coming with me right now to the Headmaster's office to see if we can change things! Neah! Please!" To Neah's surprise, the girl had begun to cry softly. "Please." She gripped his shirt-front, teary-eyed.

Neah awkwardly patted her on the head. _Allen! Help me out here!_

The Exorcist in question laughed. _**You got us into this mess. It's your problem. **_He paused. _**I'm curious – how did you put your name in, anyway? The age line wouldn't let me past – I had to get Timcanpy to enter me. **_Allen (mentally) shuddered. _**I had to make six midnight trips down to the kitchens to get enough food to bribe the little devil. **_

Neah shrugged. _I borrowed control while you were asleep –_

_**What?! Neah!**_

_Anyway... I borrowed control while you were asleep, and put my name in the Goblet. _Neah sighed. _The way I figure it is the Goblet judges by mental maturity, not by actual age, which is why aging potions don't work. Road couldn't cross the age line because though she may be older than everyone else here, she's rather frozen at the age she was when she became a Noah._

Lenalee was staring at Neah rather concernedly. "Are you all right? You stopped responding for a second there." She frowned. "You kinda seem out of it."

Neah reeled backwards. "Erm... Just talking to Allen." He winced.

The green-haired girl nodded slowly. "I... see. What does he say?"

Allen sounded amused. _Tell her I say hi and to not worry – I'm fine and I trust you not to mentally obliterate me. Also, let her know I already talked to Dumbledore, and you can't back out of the competition. _

Neah winced. _**I really didn't want to tell her... She already kicked me once. That was more than enough.**_

There was silence from Allen. It spoke volumes.

_**Fine... **_Neah turned to the girl walking next to him.. "Actually, Lenalee, about that... Once you've entered in the competition, you can't not participate. I asked Dumbledore." He winced in anticipation.

Then paused, as nothing collided with his head. He looked up to see Lenalee staring at the floor. She smiled sadly. "I figured that it was that way. I just wanted to try." She turned to him and smiled. "That just means that I'll have to help you in any way I can!"

Neah let out a sigh of relief.

"But – if anything happens to Allen because of you, I will have no qualms about kicking you into the next century – and then telling nii-san that you asked me out to a dance." She beamed at him sweetly.

The Noah felt chills run up his spine.

"Shall we go back?" With that, the Chinese girl grabbed The Musician's arm and dragged him all the way back to the Ark, ignoring the few shocked students the two passed.

* * *

Neah Walker was feeling pretty fine. He had resolved things with Lenalee, and he figured it was only a matter of time before things worked out with the rest of the Exorcists. (The Noahs couldn't care less.) Plus, there was the added bonus of being the champion as well as gaining a modicum of control over Allen's body.

The Noah walked through the Ark gate to be confronted with a sight he was not prepared to see.

"What do you think you're doing, Neah?" A very irate samurai stood just beyond the doorway, arms folded and a glare written across his face. Standing behind him, Lavi had his hammer out and activated. The 14th gulped.

* * *

Tyki stood next to Road in the doorway, novel in one hand, hat in the other. He snickered, watching Neah. More accurately, watching Kanda, Lavi, and Lenalee beat up Neah. Perhaps this wouldn't be such a bad year after all.

* * *

Harry Potter was becoming suspicious. The fourth school – they were not all they seemed, that was obvious. But the question was, what were they hiding? He had told his suspicions to Hermione and Ron, but both had dismissed him as just a bit paranoid. But seriously! Those students – and that headmaster – they practically screamed dark.

The Boy-Who-Lived paced back and forth in front of his bed. He had to do something about his suspicions. He had to figure out who the Rosa Cross students really were. He had to investigate. And the best way to start out was to follow one of them back to the plae where they were staying.

Harry grinned. He was going to have fun.

Best not tell Hermione, though.

* * *

**A/N: Read and Review, people, like usual! Thanks! Also, please go read my other story. It's not getting nearly enough love! Kenzie Perth, out!**


	10. In Which Hermione is Nosy and Allen Lies

**A/N: So... I'm back. I have news for all you lovely readers - I have decided to update longer chapters. Consequentially, this means that it'll be quite a bit longer between updates - maybe a week or two, maybe even longer if school gets in the way. I'm also thinking about doing the same thing with my other story, so if you read both, please let me know what you think I should do. Anyway, disclaimer time!**

**Allen: I already don't like this chapter.**

**Kenzie: *Put out* And why's that, hmm?**

**Allen: Because you're mean to me.**

**Kenzie: No, I'm not. I'm just using artistic license. Also, I'm thinking about publishing a one-shot that'll cheer you up. How does that sound to you?**

**Neah: I better be in it.**

**Kenzie: Actually, you won't be.**

**Allen: Sounds good to me!**

**Neah: Well, that wasn't very nice!**

**Kanda: Shut up, idiots. The story's starting.**

**Neah: Why, so it is! How exciting.**

* * *

Though she would never admit it to either Ron or Harry, Hermione was more than a little suspicious of the fourth school as well. Harry had eventually won Ron over with his suspicions, and now both of them spent their free time between classes attempting to sneakily follow the various students of the Rosa Cross School around. Since the first time, though, when Harry had gotten it into his head to tail the long-haired samurai, Kanda, things had not gone well. Personally, Hermione just thought it was bad luck that of all the people Harry could have chosen, it was the most ill-tempered one of the group. Perhaps it was karma?

What made her suspicious, though, was the white-haired one. She knew for a matter of fact that his name was Allen, so unless he had multiple personalities or something, he wasn't technically allowed to even be in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. And yet, Dumbledore had allowed him to participate – without explaining to any of the other students or teachers how this was possible.

And the rest of the students? And their headmaster? There was something off about them that she had felt since their demonstration on the first night – something different that put her nerves on edge and her skin prickle uncomfortably. The fourth school was going to be trouble, she could tell.

The highly intelligent witch was interrupted from her musings by the main suspect himself. Allen Walker tapped her on the shoulder, smiling blindingly.

"Can you show me how to get to the Transfigurations classroom?" He scratched his head awkwardly. "I'm a bit... directionally challenged. And Neah isn't much help." Immediately after saying that, he seemed suddenly wary, as if suddenly sensing her suspicions, but keeping the smile on his face nevertheless.

Hermione's pulse quickened. Neah. That was the name submitted in the Goblet, wasn't it? This was an opportunity to figure more out about what was going on. Unfortunately, that meant she had to figure out a way to weasel the tantalizing information out of the boy. Her two-and-a-half months spent with him and the rest of his classmates at the Weasleys' had definitely given the impression that the teenager, despite his innocent looks, was not easy to fool in the slightest. She took a deep breath. Just briefly, ever so slightly in the back of her mind, she wished she was a Slytherin. It would have made the task before her so much easier.

She smiled back at him, switching on her helpful student mode, hoping her quivering insides didn't show on her face. "Actually, that's where I'm going now. I'd be happy to show you the way."

If anything, Allen's grin got bigger. "Thank you so much! I am forever in your favor! Anything I can do for you?"

Funny, she noted. He carefully avoided using the word debt. But she was getting distracted, because there. This was it. This was her moment to strike.

She took a deep breath to steady herself. "Actually, I'm curious. Who's Neah?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted ever even thinking them. The grin slid off the white-haired boy's face, and he turned his head away, his long bangs obscuring his features in shadow.

"It's... complicated," he eventually said.

There was a silence, which seemed to spread, pushing out to the edges of the corridor and suffusing the air with heavy awkwardness.

Hermione's next words, when she got the courage to speak, cut through the tension like a sharp blade. "And it's a long walk to Transfigurations classroom."

As she said this, she turned off in the opposite direction of their intended destination. They actually had plenty of time, and even if they didn't, she wasn't going to waste this opportunity to find out more about Allen, enigma that he was.

Just this once, she had found something more interesting than classes.

* * *

When the two of them arrived in front of the classroom doors, Hermione was thoroughly shocked and Allen was staring at the ground, his face unreadable. It had been slow going at first, but he had eventually, slowly and hesitantly, explained. And the witch didn't know what to do with the information she had just been given. She was beginning to wish now that she hadn't asked, that she hadn't been so curious. The burdens the seemingly-lighthearted boy next to her had to bear were to much for anyone – perhaps even more than Harry had resting on his shoulders.

She felt like she had to say something. "I'm... sorry." She didn't dare look at the boy walking next to her.

He turned to her, stony face still intact, eyes as hard as steel. "What's there to be sorry about? I've come to terms with Neah – as a matter of a fact, he's a good conversationalist – and even if I don't want to hang around the other idiots, everything – being here at Hogwarts, meeting all these new people – is amazing." By the end of his sentence, the hardness in his face had melted away, and he gave her his sweetest smile again.

The doors pushed open to the classroom with a creaking groan, and the entirety of the fourth-year Slytherins and Gryffindors turned to face the two.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat. "How kind of you to join us. Perhaps you can demonstrate how to transfigure a pair of slippers into rabbits?" Then she noticed who it was. "Hermione! Late? Is the end of the world coming?"

The witch blushed. "Sorry, Professor. I got lost."

The Scottish professor sniffed. "That is no excuse. You are in your fourth year of Hogwarts. Surely you should know your way around the school by now? And you – Allen Walker, am I correct? You should be in Potions right now with the other fifth-years."

The white-haired exorcist turned red with embarrassment, then pale. "You mean with Snape?"

"Professor Snape, Mr. Walker. You should be down in the dungeons! Honestly! You'll be tardy, and I'll have you know, Professor Snape does not take kindly to latecomers." The stern-faced witch gave an even more forbidding look than normal to the boy.

From the opposite side of the room, Harry grimaced sympathetically, while the freckle-faced Weasley next to him mouthed something that looked suspiciously like 'Glad it's you and not me.'

He grinned sheepishly. "Oops?"

* * *

Allen was currently sprinting through the hallways of Hogwarts like he had just stolen Kanda's soba. Or maybe insulted his hair. The flower that Professor McGonagall, (or the Scottish Witch, as Neah had taken to calling her) had enchanted to guide the boy to the Potions classroom was flying through the corridors at breakneck speed, sometimes through ghosts and over other students. Allen had no choice but to follow. He did make sure to apologize to all the people he leaped over, though.

Finally, the flower, which Allen idly identified as a pansy, stopped in front of two large black doors, where it promptly withered away into dust. The Exorcist and the Noah inside his head gulped in unison. There was an aura emanating from the doors that scared the two more than they'd of liked to admit.

Finally, Allen worked up the courage to enter, pushing the doors open with a painful creak and a wince. What greeted his eyes was not something he was ever expecting to see.

Yuu Kanda was having a staring match with a hook-nosed man with greasy black hair, wearing bat-like black robes and a sneer to match. The ponytailed Exorcist had his hand on his sword, and was looking dangerously annoyed. The other just looked condescending. The rest of the students, Lavi and Lenalee included, had all taken cover behind their desks.

Actually, not all of them had. Road and Jasdevi were both sitting lazily on the school tables, watching the going-ons like one would watch a particularly entertaining episode of one's favorite show.

Luckily enough, no one had seemed to notice Allen yet, but he figured it would only be a matter of time. The boy had enough common sense to realize that he really didn't want to be in the middle of... whatever was going on. Still, curiosity won out, and he snuck over to behind the barricade of desks to his red-headed friend, hoping for both answers and protection.

Ducking low as he skittered between desks, the white-haired teenager gulped. He swore the room was getting uncomfortably cold. Taking a nose dive and sliding into Lavi, Allen chanced a glance up at the glaring pair. Mugen was already two inches out of its sheath, and the black-haired man's hand was twitching towards the wand undoubtedly stashed away in his robes. The situation was escalating rather quickly, and Allen personally really didn't want to be there when everything exploded.

He poked his comrade in both battles and mischief. "What's going on?" He hissed, jerking his thumb towards Kanda and the man, both of whom now brazenly had their weapons drawn and pointed at each other (though one certainly looked more threatening than the other).

Lavi smirked. "Well, that's quite the tale. But to make a long story short, I was annoying Yuu-chan again -"

"No surprise there." Allen snorted.

"Are you going to listen, or are you going to talk? Anyway, I was annoying Yuu-chan, and him being the grumpy idiot that he is, he lashed out with his sword, and my cauldron got tipped over, and it got all over that boy -" he gestured at a boy sobbing in the corner, covered with boils. "And the teacher, Snape, called him out for that. Of course, things only escalated from there." Lavi scratched his head. "So yeah, that's what happened. Did I mention that you're late?"

Allen rolled his eyes. "I noticed. Anyway, do you want to get out of here before everything explodes – eep!"

Just as he said those last words, there was a shout and a crash, and when the boy turned to look, he was greeted with a sight that was both hilarious and terrifying. But mostly terrifying. Kanda had his sword at the man's throat, looking merciless, while the teacher, apparently Snape, had his wand pressed into the samurai's temple, not looking concerned in the slightest. In other words, it was a stalemate.

Allen, Lavi, and Lenalee got out of there as quickly as possible. Most of the Hogwarts students followed suite.

Road and Jasdevi remained behind to watch the results.

Many took this as a sign that the three of them were more than a little insane.

* * *

The rest of the period that Potions would normally take up were spent by Allen explaining to his friends about the encounter with Hermione.

He had lied to the girl, and was a bit ashamed about that, ending up explaining away Neah as a separate and sweet, if a bit cantankerous, personality implanted by a dark curse. In fact, the lie had worked quite well, as it also took care of his scar and pale coloring.

But still, it was the fact that he had lied.

And that she had believed him.

He'd have to make it up to her somehow, in some way.

Because it wasn't like him to lie like this – that was something that the old Allen Walker, before he was even named that, before he had met Mana, before he had come to realize that there was going to be more in his life than pain and deceit – that was something that Red did. Not Allen Walker.

_Quite correct, nephew. _Neah commented on his train of thought. _And I'm surprised you manage to state that so politely._

Allen rolled his eyes. _**Way to spoil the sentiment, Neah.**_

And thus, a day in the life of Allen Walker. Preferably with fewer lies next time.

* * *

**A/N: As usual, please R&R! Thanks! Bye!**

**Neah: You can shut up now.**

**Kenzie: Oh no you didn't...**


	11. Redheads Make Important Discoveries

**A/N: Hooray! I can edit this now! Even if it's on my iTouch and it's auto correcting every other word and... and... and... I give up. Disclaimer!**

**Tyki: I don't show up very often in these author's notes. **

**Road: Well, neither have I. **

**Jasdero: Or us, hee!**

**David: That's right! You haven't been giving us enough attention!**

**Kenzie: Shhh. At least you're not the Harry Potter characters. They haven't appeared at all, and probably won't for a while. Now, read the disclaimer!**

**David: Kenzie Perth doesn't own -Man or Harry Potter, idiots!**

**Jasdero: They belong to their creators, hee!**

**Tyki and Road: Now let the show begin. **

* * *

Okay. That wasn't true.

Allen Walker had lied throughout his life many many times, and would most likely continue to do so. He had lied to practically everyone, including his closest friends, and even Neah once or twice. (Which was quite a feat in itself – it was like lying to one's own self, except with a separate consciousness that didn't actually want to be deceived.)

So why did he feel so guilty about tricking Hermione Granger? He didn't even know her that well. If anything, he should have felt guilty when he lied to Lenalee – he didn't know a sweeter girl out there, or one so trusting.

Perhaps that was it. It was the way that even though she didn't know him, he took his false truth completely to heart, not questioning a word of what he said. There was something about the students here – a feeling of utter naivety and trust that put him on edge. It would be incredibly easy to manipulate any of them, even the Slytherins, who prided themselves on their cunning and mistrust.

Even if Lenalee was sweet and trusting, she had still seen things – had things happen to her – things that would give any human alive, adult or child, nightmares. She still had that heavy weariness and carefulness about her that could only be developed with years of fighting an unknown enemy.

_Wait. _Neah interrupted Allen's increasingly depressing train of thought. _When did you lie to me? How did you even lie to me? I'm in your head! I can hear your thoughts!_

The white-haired boy mentally shrugged. _**It's basically the same as lying to yourself. It wasn't really that hard. **_Another falsehood, this one tinged with truth.

He paused, then added, _**Besides, the way you get distracted makes it incredibly easy to slip things by you. **_This, though, was complete and absolute honesty.

_What have I let slip by me? _The Noah was obviously indignant.

_**Lots of things. For instance, I snuck down to the Order cafeteria three times after you told me not to, all because you were distracted by one of my memories of Master, **_the Exorcist retorted easily.

Neah took a deep breath, even though he didn't need air. Allen winced, preparing for the explosion._ WHAT? HOW DARE YOU! I HAVE ONLY YOUR BEST INTERESTS AT HEART! DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT YOU CAN GO BEHIND MY BACK?!_

Allen began to tune out his annoying passenger. Right now, he needed to think about how he was going to make it up to Hermione, preferably without alerting her to the presence of his deception in the first place.

Perhaps he should give her an all you can eat coupon for Mitarashi Dango?

_That's just what you want, Allen. _Neah had apparently calmed down. _Try thinking about what a normal person wants, not a person with a stomach like a black hole._

Hm... This was apparently going to be rather difficult...

* * *

Lavi sat in the fairly extensive Hogwarts library. Admittedly, he had seen bigger and better stocked, but the information held here was what made this place special. All this history – the Bookman clan had been well aware of the Wizarding Community, certainly, but had never really gotten a chance to poke and pry and learn their background. And now, here he was, Lavi Bookman Jr., recording the information so coveted by his clan.

He shut Hogwarts, a History, placing it on an ever-growing stack of completed books. Within five minutes, he was already a good twenty chapters into the next tome, and was about to finish it when something caught his attention.

Most of the text was fairly dry, and just a reiteration of the other books he had read so far, but hidden in a footnote was something that took the red-headed Bookman by surprise.

_The Black Order_, it said.

Sometimes, Lavi and the others forgot that Hogwarts was actually in the future. The Wizarding culture was so out of touch with the rest of the world that despite it being a good hundred years past their present day, there wasn't much of a culture shock from time travel. Of course, it really did help that Komui regularly built incredibly destructive robots and created machines that wouldn't be invented for another century at least.

But still.

The fact was, it was the future, and there would invariably be information on the fate of the Black Order, for even if the church annihilated all public information, the Bookman clan would still keep record.

Lavi could only hope that reading about his own future didn't do something horrible to the fabric of time and space. He'd have to ask the Doctor about that one, next time he saw the Timelord.

* * *

Somewhere far away, in the middle of negotiations between two warring races and a sentient cucumber, the bow tie-sporting alien sneezed.

_Strange, _he thought. _I was under the impression Timelords weren't susceptible to colds._

* * *

Kanda Yuu was thoroughly annoyed. This was mostly the fault of a certain red-head. Actually, two.

Fred and George Weasley prided themselves on their skills at irritating people, particularly stuck-up or grumpy ones. Therefore, they considered the samurai a perfect target. And like with all of their previous victims, the heckling was carefully planned out beforehand, taking every possible variable into consideration.

In other words, they had a little under two minutes left to live.

Kanda surprised them, however, by walking out of the castle, fists quivering with the attempt to keep his temper under control (he was remembering Komui's warning of 'No maiming'). In fact, he didn't stop walking until just before the Whomping Willow.

What happened next very much surprised the twin carrot-tops. There was a white light, and much confusion, and then their target disappeared.

Well, that explained where the fourth school was staying, at least.

The two hurried off, gleeful with their new discovery. They had to tell Lee right away.

* * *

Lenalee was watching Road and Jasdevi heckle Tyki. The Noah had managed to keep his cool so far, but the pigtailed girl knew that the other three had crossed a line when they messed with his book.

The Noah of Pleasure looked up, a murderously sadistic look on his now gray face.

Jasdevi paled. Jasdero took a few floppy steps back, followed quickly by David. Both of them held up their hands in protest, attempting to calm the top-hatted Noah.

Then, figuring out that that was a futile effort, they took off.

Tyki stared after them for a few minutes, sighed, loosing a few Teaseh after them to keep the pair occupied, and sat back down, continuing his story right from where he left off.

Lenalee had a hard time not laughing. Apparently, the Noah's sense of humor was rubbing off on her. At this point, she wasn't exactly sure if that was a bad thing.

If Nii-san could hear her, though...

It was probably a good thing that the elder Lee couldn't read minds.

* * *

Somewhere in the far past, the bespectacled man sneezed, knocking his coffee over on his paperwork.

He stared at the mess for a second, then shrugged. That certainly took care of things.

Reever, who had just come into the room, groaned. "I have more paperwork for you, sir." He dropped a mile-high stack of documents onto his superior's desk.

Komui grinned at him. "Can I have some more coffee?"

* * *

Lavi had finished the book. There was nothing more on the Black Order in it – the Bookman wasn't sure if he was disappointed or relieved. The same held true for the next book.

And then, the next tome, a thick, heavy thing with a dusty black cover – Lavi was almost afraid to open it. He had a bad feeling about this particular one.

He started reading anyway.

The first chapter was on the Black Order.

The red-head slammed the book shut, staring at it with wide eyes. It was then that he noticed the title and author of the book. Inscribed in archaic gold writing was the title: _Supernatural Societies: How They've Affected Wizarding History, and Why They're Important._

Beneath the rather long and wordy title was the author's name.

The carrot-top's breath caught in his throat.

_By Lavi Bookman, Jr. _

Slowly, hesitantly, he opened the book back up, his single green eye focusing on the page with apprehension.

And he began to read.

* * *

Omake: The Sentient Cucumber's War

Really, it was all Excalibur's fault.

The Doctor had known the Holy Sword for almost a thousand of his twelve hundred years of age, and still had yet to be driven completely bonkers by him, which many considered a miraculous feat. But never once had he seen something as ridiculous as this – as annoying.

Before the Timelord stood the aardvark-like creature in question, still wearing his white top hat that never seemed to come off. Next to him, however, was a cucumber.

Now, the Doctor had seen many cucumbers before, and at first glance, there was nothing particularly interesting about this one. He had seen cucumbers that glowed, that flew, that did all sorts of interesting things that most humans would agree cucumbers shouldn't do.

Admittedly, this one was standing on a pair of legs, which was rather unusual, and it appeared to have arms, as well.

At second glance, it was carrying a high-tech energy blaster as well, as well as several other weapons of war that the Doctor had never seen a cucumber use.

And then it talked.

Really, where had Excalibur managed to find a sentient cucumber?

The Doctor had then discovered that the plant in question had managed to start a war between two normally peaceful races, and became rather angry.

But mostly bemused.

And then he had found himself mediating between the two representatives of the warring races and the cucumber.

It was, he reflected, a rather odd situation. It was not every day that you spent a peace talk trying to convince someone not to make a salad out of one of the representatives.

* * *

Challenge: Give me an OC and I'll stick them in the plot, even if it's just a minor role! Also, vote on pairings for the Yule Ball!

Lenalee: See you next time!


	12. In Which Noahs and Kanda happen

**A/N: So... Sorry for not updating for a while. Well, I'm too lazy to do a disclaimer. So, you all know the drill. I don't own anything.**

**Tyki: That was short. **

**Kenzie: Shut up.**

* * *

Jasdevi ran as fast as their legs could carry them, and since they were Noahs, that was pretty fast. They ran like an enraged Millennium Earl was chasing them – or rather, like they had stolen Kanda's soba. Or perhaps put hair dye in his shampoo, though that was more Lavi's territory.

The grounds of the school flew past them, blurring together into one long streak of color. Behind them, the sounds of the chattering Teaseh could just be heard over the rushing wind. It would have been quite poetic if it hadn't been so terrifying.

David cursed as he stumbled over a tree root that he was quite sure had not been there before. Jasdero stopped to help him, remembered the Teaseh, and took off again, dragging his brother by the arm over tree roots and stones. Finally, the two stopped (with much complaining on David's part) just before the dark, menacing forest that bordered the school.

The twins turned to face the butterfly golems. There were only four (Tyki couldn't be bothered to send more), but that was more than enough, as the twins knew from experience. Together, the two, standing back to back, raised their golden pistols and prepared to fire. Just as their fingers tightened on the triggers, a blur sped past them, snatching up the Teaseh in very large, very spiky jaws.

The brown blur, which appeared to be some sort of predatory bird thing, disappeared into the tangle of woods behind Jasdevi. Suddenly, the seemingly quiet woods became a riot of snarls, rustles, and flickering glowing eyes.

The twins turned to look at each other for a second, before tightening their fingers on their identical weapons and taking off faster than before into the dark jungle before them.

This should be fun.

* * *

It was many hours later that the two realized that the sun was setting, and the woods was getting dark. Admittedly, they hadn't been afraid while there was still light out, but now that dark was beginning to fall, the occupants of the forest began to get bolder, and though they'd never say it out loud, Jasdevi were just a teeny bit nervous. It was no question that they had to get out of there – the only problem was, they had no idea where they were.

Perhaps this hadn't been the brightest idea after all.

An eternity later, the twins saw a light in the forest, like a flame, and so, fending of vampiric moths that seemed to be attracted to the glowing bobble on Jasdero's head, they made their slow way over to the scene.

What they saw stunned them right out of their socks (if they had been wearing any).

Dragons. Real life, scaly, presumably fire-breathing dragons, each at least the size of a Komurin (not that the twins had actually ever seen one – they had just heard stories.)

Jasdevi were delighted.

They stood there for several minutes, watching the dragons (there were five of them) wrestle their handlers as the night sky grew dark around them.

It was only until all the dragons had been stunned that the two realized that they probably were the first task. Now, the question was, should they tell Neah or not?

* * *

Lavi was more than a bit disappointed. The text had been dry and uninformative, only containing information that was no news to him. It was as if that the author had realized that he would be reading it. Then he remembered that the author probably did.

He was gazing at the passages, hoping to find something that he hadn't noticed before in the other nine readings when he saw it.

A code.

The Bookman code.

And it was a message to him.

_We'll be coming soon enough - keep an eye on Allen, and search for Innocence on the school grounds._

Well, that was interesting.

Very much to the point, but nevertheless, quite interesting.

* * *

Harry was really ready to start beating his head on the table. Road tended to have that effect.

After Jasdevi had run off, Teaseh hot on their heels, Road had, due to sheer boredom, decided to start bugging him and the rest of the Gryffindor table. This took the form of thinly veiled sadistic threats, pestering for homework help, and shoving of raggedy, decrepit voodoo dolls in his face.

Needless to say, The-Boy-Who-Lived was not enjoying the experience very much.

Ron next to him didn't look much better. The red-head had always been slightly leery of Road Kamelot ever since she and the rest of her school had come to stay at his house over the summer and she had befriended Fred and George, helping immensely with the range and scale of their pranks.

Personally, Harry thought that some of the more inventive ones had been rather impressive, but he figured he probably wouldn't have been quite so happy about them had he been the target, like his carrot-topped friend.

Hermione, on the other side of the table, was ignoring Harry's desperate attempts to catch her attention and signal for help. Instead, she was focused on a thick tome in front of her, a roll of parchment already half-covered in neat, sloping writing hanging partially off the table. A quill was posed over the essay, and she brought the pen down every few seconds to take notes on what she was reading.

Harry recognized her case as hopeless.

So, using the bathroom as an escape, the bespectacled boy grabbed his invisibility cloak from underneath his bed, swung it around his shoulders, and sneaked off, leaving Ron at the mercy of the slightly crazed girl, who was now disemboweling ragged stuffed animals and de-legging spiders, to the red-head's horror.

It was time to do some exploring.

It was only after Harry had passed by Ron, Hermione, and Road again, and through the portrait of the Fat Lady did he realize he had no idea how the little girl had managed to gain access to the Gryffindor Common Room.

* * *

Allen was obviously just a little bit shocked. His mouth hung open, and his eyes were as wide as half-dollars, his skin nearly as white as a sheet. A slow sweatdrop rolled down his temple.

"Really? Dragons?!" he almost screamed at the twins, causing several nearby student's heads to turn.

The twins and Allen were sitting at one of the long wooden tables in the Great Hall – the white-haired boy had been in the middle of stuffing his face and ruminating about Hermione when Jasdevi had come up behind him and dropped a figurative bomb.

David's hair had been blown straight up slightly by the force of Allen's scream, and Jasdero had, in his usual limp-boned manner, fallen backwards of the bench, where he lay half on the floor, laughing crazily and garnering many strange looks. Still, the black-haired Noah of Bonds retained his cocky grin (though it was slightly smaller), and nodded lazily, as though he didn't have a care in the world. Inside, though, he was shaking. That had been quite the explosion.

"As in, actual, fire-breathing, living, scaly, Komurin-sized dragons?" The boy was now quivering in his seat, filled with tension, staring heatedly at the many plates stacked before him. Finally, he looked up. "And you didn't tell me this sooner why?" His voice was deadly soft, and there was a hint of gold in his eyes.

The twins, with Jasdero safely righted and out of feet's way, gulped in unison.

* * *

Allen watched their retreating backs with a certain amount of humor and annoyance, mostly directed at the resident in his head for getting him into this mess in the first place. The said occupant also gulped, and dived back into the farthest, shadowiest recesses of the mindscape. It was best not to mess with Allen when he was in a mood.

Picking up his fork again, he continued to eat. Now, if only Hogwarts served Mitarashi Dango...

* * *

It was a few days later that Kanda met Draco Malfoy. The others had all encountered him, and there wasn't a person who stayed at the Weasleys who hadn't heard his name, which was usually accompanied by a large amount of venom, but none had actually talked to him, not really.

The younger had been ordering about his cronies (who reminded all the Exorcists an awful lot of AKUMA) when he had tripped over Kanda's outstretched foot in a mostly deserted corridor.

"Watch where you're go–"

When the young blond boy had looked up from the floor, his expression of disgust immediately disappeared and was replaced by one of panic. Everyone had heard of Kanda's temper at this point, if they hadn't already experienced it from Potions class.

Draco stuttered nervously, getting slowly to his feet and brushing off his robes, spluttering apologies the whole time. Then, he seemed to pull himself together, smoothing back his hair. He held out his hand.

"I'm Draco Malfoy. You must be Kanda?"

It was merely a formality. There was not any at Hogwarts, resident or not, that did not know who Kanda Yuu was. It was, most obviously, a suck-up attempt. Kanda had seen much better. Honestly, it was rather pathetic. And he thought that the Moyashi was bad.

So, Kanda being Kanda, he replied in kind.

"Tch. Whatever. What are you doing here?"

If the white-blond boy was put off by the samurai's lack of manners, he didn't let it show. "I was making my way to class. May I enquire what you were doing out here?" He gestured towards the now-empty corridor.

The Exorcist smirked. "I was waiting for the Moyashi to get out class so I could disembowel him." He fingered the long sword at his side.

Draco paled slightly. "I... see. I shall be off now. Good day." And without waiting for a response (not that he would have gotten one), he brushed off rather quickly, not looking back.

Kanda smirked again. He had a feeling that the little brat wouldn't be bugging him again any time soon.

* * *

It was amazing how quickly time could fly sometimes. It was almost the day of the First Task, and Allen Walker was panicking. All his friends had offered him advice, condolences, and in some cases, numbers for the nearest Undertaker (who just happened to be named The Undertaker.) Truthfully, neither Allen nor Neah could fathom the depth of the Wizards' insanity. Nesting dragons? Versus mostly-untrained school-children? Obviously, all the potion fumes had gotten to their heads and destroyed any common sense they had had.

The Exorcist paced around the piano room, muttering under his breath about "weak spots, scales, talons, fire, teeth" and other things of the like. Neah took a deep breath.

"Allen, calm down."

The boy looked up. "How can I calm down? We're facing a dragon in two days. Two days! And I don't even have a plan, or a clue, or anything – I don't know magic, I don't know if Crown Clown will work against a dragon, and besides, two days!" By the end of this, he was panting slightly, still panicked.

His uncle smiled benevolently. "You know, it's me facing the dragon and not you. So chill. I've got everything covered." He waved his hand airily, adopting what he hoped was a calm, collected expression.

Allen looked up quickly. "You have a plan?"

Neah winced. "Maybe. But it might not work too well. And it might not turn out too well for you." He rubbed the back of his head with one gloved hand. "It's up to you whether we go through."

His nephew looked at him. "What's this plan?"

The Noah sighed. "Well, the only thing I can think of is to talk to it. The dragon, I mean." He added hastily at Allen's confused look. "The problem is not that it's not intelligent enough, it's how. To do this, I need to use the powers of the 14th. But you've never done that before, and I don't know what'll happen if we do. It... might have some negative side-affects. And contrary to common belief, I've actually grown rather fond of you, so I'd hate it if something were to happen."

Allen paused for a second. "Do you think it will work?"

"I can only hope."

"And it's the only thing you think will work?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

The boy shrugged, and smiled. "Then we don't really have a choice, do we?"

* * *

It was the day of the task, and the wizards in the crowd cheered at the bright, sunny day, hot and warm. Like fire. Allen winced at that. Not fire, not fire, don't think fire. You'll be fine, you're just freaking yourself out. Calm down, calm down.

It wasn't working. He was sitting in the tent with the other champions as a slightly portly man in bright robes chattered incessantly about something. It was probably important, but the Exorcist was too nervous to care. When he looked around, he saw that everyone else was in a similar state, even the sullen boy that was the Durmstrang champion.

He was broken out of his thoughts when a brown drawstring bag was shoved in his face. He was probably supposed to pick something out of it. Looking around, he saw that the others had something in their hands – something moving. Well, that wasn't encouraging.

He screwed up his courage, put his hand in, and was rewarded by a sharp nip to his finger. Lifting his hand out, he found a miniature dragon, an exact model, with a number three around its neck.

"A Horned Naga!" The portly man beamed. "Nasty little buggers, straight from India. A right pain to ship her here, I'll tell you."

Allen looked carefully at the model in his hand, tuning out what the man had to say. It was skinny, snake-like, with a frill behind its head. The dragon's entire body was a reddish-orangey color, like rust, and when it noticed Allen looking at it, it hissed irritably in a way that reminded the Exorcist very much of Kanda after Lavi braiding his hair.

Allen barely noticed the first two champions leave and come back, he was so nervous. He hardly even registered the cheers of the crowd and the boom of the announcer's voice, busy as he was with his internal conversation with Neah.

The man hurried over. "You're up! Good luck!" He patted Allen on the back. No, not Allen. Neah.

The Noah stood up, stuffing the dragon in his uniform pocket and stretching his arms. "Time to get cracking."

There was a roar as Neah walked out into the arena. It was rocky, and the terrain was rough. Scorch marks littered the ground and walls, probably from the previous champions. And directly in front of him was the dragon, the size of two Komurins combined, crouched protectively over a nest of eggs and smoking dangerously. At the very top, there was a golden orb – Neah figured he was probably supposed to retrieve it or something.

He started forward. _Ready, Allen?_

At the confirmative noise, he began to sing in the back of his throat, softly enough that only the dragon's sensitive hearing could pick it up. The melody stretched, and began to take a shape, a meaning.

_The egg on your nest, the gold one, it's a fake. May I have it? _

The dragon snorted indignantly. Then it answered. _Of course it's a fake. I have no use for something that the two-legs have made. _It picked up the egg with one long, rust-colored and wickedly sharp talon, hooking it around the decorations at the top, flinging it at the Noah.

The crowd was utterly silent and completely shocked. All they had heard was a faint humming, and then an eerie keening from the dragon. And then – then, it had _given _the egg up – it was unlike anything they had ever seen before.

In the stands, Lavi smiled broadly. That was exactly what he had been expecting.

Then panic spread through the crowd like a ripple, a stone dropped into a pond. In the far stands, a gray demon, covered with cannons and with a face that was crying black tears appeared, rising up from behind, from the forest. Then another, then another. The air filled with panicked shrieks as the cannons began to aim, cocking with sharp clicking noises.

Hurriedly, the professors began casting shield spells, protecting the students from the barrage of bullets. A few curses were thrown the AKUMAs' way, but they bounced off, and the majority of the population focused on getting inside the castle intact. In a matter of seconds, there were no other humans outside the castle except for the combatants.

Kanda had already activated Mugen the moment the AKUMA had appeared, but the dragon got to them first, slicing through the hard exoskeletons with razor-like claws, bullets bouncing off its scales like rainwater. The samurai switched direction quickly towards the others.

Allen had forced his way to the front of his mind at the sight of the demons, attempting to activate Crown Clown simultaneously. But he had crumpled over, curling up on the turf almost like he had fallen asleep, the white cloak and mask slowly fading away.

Vaulting through the stands, Kanda and the others ignored the empty robes of the few students unlucky enough to be outside the teachers' shields, skidding to a halt to circle around their comrade - because that's what Allen was - he was their comrade, their friend, even to the Noahs.

Road crouched down, staring at him in her curious way, tilting her head to the side slightly. Slowly, she reached out, holding a lollipop in her other hand, grabbing him by his shoulder. Even more slowly, she turned him over, her eyes widening as the others gasped simultaneously.

Gray was curled up, past his collarbone, almost to his jawline. His hands were twitching, like he was fighting off a nightmare, and on his forehead, two crosses were etched into his forehead, still bleeding slightly. A third was beginning to appear, and his hair was caked with blood. But most frightening of all was the tremendously huge smile that split his face, despite his unconscious state.

The awaking of the Noah had begun.

* * *

**A/N: That... was depressing. Anyway, two announcements.**

**1. I seriously need OCs. I need Finders, Exorcists, maybe some Noahs, and one or two AKUMA, maybe. If you want to submit a wizard, I'll stick them in, but they won't be so important. However, if you do give me an OC, you have to be okay with them being killed off during the finale of the story. I would like a mix of both boys and girls, because if you read/watch -Man, there's already a (sorta) balanced number, and I'd like to keep it pretty similar.**

**2. For the Yule Ball pairings, it will be Kanda X Lenalee. When I say vote on pairings, I mean anything that doesn't interfere with that. For instance, I'll do Laven, or Road X Allen, or any of those (to a degree), but not something like Yullen, because that means that Kanda couldn't go to the ball with Lenalee. However, I might add a touch of that in if there's enough demand, but it'll be one-sided and not plot-centric. You have been warned!**

**Tyki: What about me?**

**Jasdevi: Or me?**

**Lavi: Or me?**

**Entire Harry Potter Cast: Or us?**

**Kenzie: Well, we'll just have to see what our dear readers say, won't we. Oh yes, I almost forgot - the explanation for the last bit. So, Neah and Allen have a truce of a sort - Neah won't take over without permission, but Allen has to allow him a little time with a body every now and then. However, Neah's never done a full takeover before (such as forcing Allen into an unconscious state) and he's never used his Noah abilities before in Allen's body. So, using them starts/speeds up the Noah awakening, but since Neah's already a Noah, it doesn't affect him until Allen takes over again. This is doubled by the fact that Allen tries to use Crown Clown, which reacts negatively to the Dark Matter that starts the Awakening. So, in short, it's not going to be pleasant. And if you've read this far, review and put the phrase Cross Marian is an interesting character somewhere in your post.**

**Kenzie Perth out!**


End file.
